Synthesis

In this day and age, technology can be viewed in multiple ways. We are in a century of rapid growth as compared to the previous generations. Some claim that technology has educational benefits. However, others believe that it is just a product and that it creates more problems than it diminishes. Although technology allows children to connect with other people easily, it’s negatives still outweigh it’s positive in the domain of school. Before adapting completely to this new world of technology, schools must consider its negative effects. It creates lack of skill and imagination due to the fast pace of life, which makes the child completely brainwashed by the widespread availability of technology. Although technology is the modern way of learning, a deficiency of valuable life skills are formed due to the ignorance made by technological advancements. As a result of technology, many students have actually grown less cultured and intelligent. According to David Gelenter, “our skill-free children are overwhelmed by information even without the Internet” (Source E). The rise of technology has not necessarily improved education or schools in general. Children who spend all their time simply sitting around and playing video games, (which is very unproductive according to Dyson in Source 3), develop a lack of skills and lose the ability to do stuff which children used to do easily in our earlier generations. Just because the kids have the opportunity to use the technology in numerous ways, doesn’t mean it’s beneficial for them always. Gelenter picks at the irony of President Clinton’s argument that technology can give children unlimited access to the world; this would be information overload. Children of our generation are lacking behind due to the decrease in presence of mind because of the technology. Honestly, textbooks develop reading skills and basic focusing abilities. In addition, schools must ignore abundance of technology because new electronic devices have been known to distract children immensely causing a lack of imagination and short attention spans. Esther Dyson, in his article, states that the rise of technology in school curriculums is not necessarily a good thing, but is rather a significant, “Social problem”. He argues that “environment that often seems to stifle a child’s imagination rather than stimulate it” (Source C). The overfeeding of information usually makes children lose focus and diminish their attention spans. The reckless velocity of life and wide availability of information has stopped children from focusing on things and taken away the little bit of patience that they used to have. On the same hand, Gelenter also claims that, “Web is a propaganda machine for short attention spans” (Source E). If schools were to adapt these new standard of learning, they would merely contradict their purposes. Education is about overcoming short attention spans and developing discipline on the path of knowledge. In addition due to